What the struggle for a baby’s life reveals

Originally posted on The Washington Times
By Julie Hocker, ACU Policy Fellow

Millions across the world are fighting, praying, and hoping for 11-month-old Charlie Gard’s chance to pursue living.

Here, across the pond in the United States, we have leading doctors and physicians offering treatment, nonprofit organizations collecting donations, and a president providing unqualified support. But, while it is easy to empathize with Charlie’s parents and their wish to treat him, it may seem difficult to understand how this international conversation and battle will ever impact you (a person now in a stage far past infancy). A seemingly single, one-off event caught on the international stage somehow feels isolated; surely it cannot possibly be the symptom of a broader culture shift right?

Wrong.

Baby Charlie Gard’s story is part of a swelling tide to deliver a death culture to as many shores around this world that it can and it demands a duty-to-die. The United States is no exception. The leaders of this death movement seek to classify entire groups of people as better-off-dead based on a set criteria established by governments and administered by physicians, hospitals, and insurance companies (namely, anyone but the person and his loved ones).

We see it in the $20 million spent annually to legalize medical murder (also known as physician assisted suicide) here in the United States and the more than 400 people euthanized against their will in the Netherlands each year. Where once individuals were cared for and comforted in the life stage of dying, they are now forced into the withdrawal of care by courts, dehydrated to death by medical professionals, and told their treatments will no longer be paid for, but with $1.20 copay, they can poison themselves to immediate end.

So then, what should our government’s role be in our death? To stay out of it.

Founded in 1964, the American Conservative Union (ACU) is the original conservative organization in the nation. For more than fifty years, ACU has served as an umbrella organization harnessing the collective strength of conservative organizations fighting for Americans who are concerned with liberty, personal responsibility, traditional values, and strong national defense. As America's premier conservative voice, ACU is the leading entity in providing conservative positions on issues to Congress, the Executive Branch, State Legislatures, the media, political candidates, and the public.
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